Recommended Game Story · Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance Part 15
Chapters in this story
Canon of Vengeance · Staining Hands to Protect a Friend
Spoiler Notice: This series covers the Canon of Creation and Canon of Vengeance of Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, including all six major endings. The two paths and their respective endings are distinct alternatives. This is not a transcript of the original game's dialogue or a novelization, but an original commentary and critique that interprets character choices and emotions based on key events. Unstated inner thoughts are distinguished as interpretations, and illustrations are AI reconstructions based on public materials.
The Canon of Vengeance in Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance presents a branching point that differs from the narrative structure of the Canon of Creation. In particular, the relationship between Tao and Sahori unfolds in a completely different manner due to the intervention of a new character, Yoko. Unlike the Canon of Creation, where Sahori succumbed to Lahmu's temptation and met a tragic end, the Canon of Vengeance sees Tao intervene more actively in Sahori's situation, altering the flow of events. This change is a crucial point that demonstrates the narrative direction the Canon of Vengeance aims for, going beyond mere differences in character behavior. This article analyzes the development of the Canon of Vengeance, focusing on Tao's attempt to save Sahori and the subsequent attack by Lilith.
Chapter 1 · Violence That Cannot Be Stopped by Good Intentions Alone
In the Canon of Vengeance, Tao becomes more directly involved in Sahori's situation through her interactions with Yoko. Unlike the Canon of Creation, where Tao remained in the position of an observer, feeling distressed while watching Sahori's suffering, Tao in the Canon of Vengeance adopts a practical attitude, intervening in the scene of bullying that Sahori faces. This is a point that shows how Tao's beliefs are manifested amidst real-world conflicts. Yoko's appearance acts as a catalyst, causing Tao to move away from her previous passive attitude and take action to save Sahori.
The scene where Tao attempts to inflict harm on the perpetrator is a point that shows how Tao's narrative in the Canon of Vengeance has clearly diverged from the Canon of Creation. Tao attempts to use direct physical force against the person bullying Sahori. This reveals that Tao is not merely a well-intentioned helper, but an agent who dares to make dangerous choices that might conflict with her own beliefs to save a friend. In this process, Tao's actions test the boundary between the conflicting values of good intentions and violence.
This intervention by Tao has a direct impact on Sahori. Although Sahori was having her sense of self-worth denied amidst Lahmu's temptations, she is forced to face reality upon witnessing Tao willing to resort to violence for her sake. Tao's actions act as a more powerful realistic stimulus than Lahmu's whispers. Sahori's rejection of Lahmu occurred because Tao's actions served as a trigger to awaken the dignity of humanity that had been dormant within Sahori.
Unlike Sahori in the Canon of Creation, who merged with Lahmu and met a tragic end, Sahori in the Canon of Vengeance makes the choice to reject Lahmu through Tao's intervention. This means that Tao's actions changed Sahori's fate. The actions Tao demonstrated provided Sahori with the grounds to shake off the temptation of the demon Lahmu. This scene clearly shows that Tao's intervention is the decisive event that leads to Sahori's internal change.
Regardless of whether it was justified, Tao's action was a desperate attempt to save Sahori. Tao took the risk of breaking taboos to uphold her beliefs. The conflict Tao experiences in this process takes on a complex aspect that cannot be simplified into a dichotomy of good and evil. Even while anticipating the moral repercussions her actions might bring, Tao did not stop in order to protect her friend. This is one of the narrative characteristics that the Canon of Vengeance demonstrates through character actions.
Chapter 2 · Lilith's Blade Strikes Immediately After the Rescue
Before the relief that Lahmu has been defeated and Sahori has been saved can even fade, Lilith appears and attacks Tao and Sahori. This event shows that the narrative of the Canon of Vengeance does not simply move toward the protagonist's victory, but that unpredictable threats can occur at any time. Lilith's attack came as an unavoidable fate for Tao and Sahori, and the death immediately following the rescue acts as the cruelest twist narratively.
Sahori loses her life due to Lilith's attack. Although Sahori regained her dignity as a human by rejecting Lahmu, she was not even granted the time to enjoy the results of that choice. Sahori's death is one of the losses that occurs in the Canon of Vengeance, and this influences the flow of the narrative that Tao will experience afterward. The scene left behind with Sahori dead visually demonstrates the weight of the sorrow that Tao must bear.
Tao also meets her death due to Lilith's attack, but she is soon revived through the intervention of Goko. This is a completely different event from the scene in the Canon of Creation where Tao sacrificed herself to resurrect the protagonist. Tao in the Canon of Vengeance returns from the threshold of death and continues her journey. Goko's intervention grants Tao a new responsibility, and the reason why she had to survive becomes the driving force that leads the remaining narrative of the Canon of Vengeance.
The brief moment where Tao and Sahori hold onto each other creates the expectation that a rescue has been achieved. Lilith's attack shatters that very expectation. In that Sahori, who rejected Lahmu, was not given time to start a new choice, this loss cannot be summarized merely as retribution for a failed vengeance. Whatever Tao does after surviving, the fact remains that there was time she could not return to Sahori.
The emotions one feels when looking at Tao, who has returned to the journey, can include both relief and sorrow for the friend left behind. This is because Tao's recovery does not offset Sahori's death. This difference becomes important when observing how Tao treats people's wishes afterward. The question of how a person who has experienced the miracle of being brought back to life will remember the wishes of another who could not be saved leads to an interpretation of her choices.
Data and Scope of Interpretation
As of October 16, 2026 (Bangkok), official work and character introductions have been cross-referenced with the ending, character, and quest data below. Official introductions were only checked for the scope of disclosure, and fan wikis and walkthroughs are classified as separate materials. This is a text for an overview of major events and original critique, not a reenactment of all dialogue or gameplay scenes, nor an official novel. Choice quests and developments by version/path are not consolidated into facts common to all playthroughs.
Megami Tensei Wiki — Comparison of events by Tao's two paths
Megami Tensei Wiki — Comparison of Yoko's background and choices by path
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